The Conventional Wisdom on Putin is Wrong:
First of all, Putin is the Prime Minister of Russia and his primary concern is the well-being of Russia and not winning a popularity contest in the West. His “bedside manner” is quite non- apologetically blunt. He suffers no fools and demands respect. He is not a diplomat. He is the classic Russian boss. When he issues an order he expects that it will be carried out exactly as he specified. Putin understands his country’s psyche much better than most…
Putin is not what the Western world tries to make him out to be…
WtR